Buccaneers fire Jon Gruden, GM Bruce Allen
In a rather shocking move, the Buccaneers have fired head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen.
“We will be forever grateful to Jon for bringing us the Super Bowl title, and we thank Bruce for his contributions to our franchise,” Buccaneers co-chairman Joel Glazer said in a statement. “However after careful consideration, we feel that this decision is in the best interest of our organization moving forward.”
The Buccaneers were tied for first place in the NFC South heading into December, but finished with losses to Carolina and Atlanta on the road and San Diego and Oakland at home, where they had been 6-0. One more win would have landed a NFC wild-card berth.
The 9-7 record this season gave Gruden consecutive winning records for the first time since arriving in Tampa Bay, yet still left the Bucs out of the playoffs for the fourth time in six years.
The Glazer family fired Tony Dungy and used four high draft picks — two No. 1s and two No. 2s — and $8 million cash to pry Gruden away from the Raiders following the 2001 season. He led Tampa Bay to its only NFL title the following year, but the Bucs haven’t won a playoff game since the Super Bowl appearance.
Gruden, who had three years remaining on a contract extension he received after winning the NFC South in 2007, leaves as the winningest coach in franchise history at 60-57, including the postseason.
But since going 15-4, including the Super Bowl, in his first season with the Bucs, Gruden went 45-53 and made quick exits from the playoffs after winning division titles in 2005 and 2007.
I don’t get it. I don’t get why the Broncos fired Mike Shanahan and I don’t get this move by the Bucs – or at least, not the Gruden firing. Allen never supplied Gruden with enough quality personnel to win after 2002. Gruden essentially got by with mediocre offensive talent and Allen never solved the quarterback quandary. But maybe I’m laying blame at the wrong feet. Maybe Gruden had just as much involvement as Allen did in choosing the personnel and that’s why both of them were handed their pink slips.
According to NFL Network’s Adam Schefter, new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris is the favorite to replace Gruden, while Director of Pro Personnel Mark Dominik is apparently set to replace Allen.
With the Broncos, Lions, Browns and possibly Rams’ (Jason Garrett is the leading candidate) head coaching vacancies filled, it’ll be interesting to see if Gruden has to sit out a year before getting his next head coaching gig. Unless the Jets bring him in for an interview or another head coach is set to get the axe, it’s doubtful Gruden will find work in ’09. (Although, he could always become a coordinator or assistant for a year just to keep his foot in the door.)
Posted in: NFL
Tags: Brue Allen, Buccaneers fire Bruce Allen, Buccaneers fire Jon Gruden, Detroit Lions, Jon Gruden, Jon Gruden rumors, Mark Dominik, Mark Dominik Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets, NFL head coach firings, Raheem Morris, Raheem Morris Tampa Bay Buccaneers, St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
|
|
|
|
I’m pretty shocked as well, though his record in TB is basically .500, even when you factor in the Super Bowl season.
He would be a great hire for most teams. My guess is he sits out and goes on TV for a year unless the Jets come calling.
Maybe TB has already spoken with Shanahan? Just a guess.
Nice. As a Packer fan, this is lining up as quite the safety net if Mike McCarthy posts another clunker next season. There are quite a few big names out there that will probably wait a year before taking a new job.
not very shocking at all to me, the timing is also not shocking either.
Gruden’s job was to get the offense to the place where he got the Raiders offense, the problem with that was we gave up 4 draft picks to get him & Rich McKay put the team in cap hell.
I think after that Gruden had to adapt to the situation and that completely jaded him to the point where he didn’t care if the offense could put up more than 24 points because he was use to relying on the defense to help him control the clock to a win, which explains his terrible post season record after the 2002 season.
King G…what the hell are you talking about…not shocking? You fire a coach weeks after the season ends and its not shocking? You just wake up and say lets get rid of him?
Here’s what’s shocking…that he he could go 500 with what he had to work with. He has never had a QB or a star on either offense or defense. Garcia is second rate at best..no big reciever, Cadilac was a bust and Ernest Graham is also second rate.
Lets fire the coach? How about you give him some players …look in the mirror…
This is another example of a Team/Owner that has a waiting list of 40,000 people just giving the fans enough to get by year after year.
The Jets should be holding a press conference this afternoon announcing his hiring, if they don’t they are the loosers we all think they are.
Painful
I am shocked. Why didn’t Tampa do this three weeks ago if they were going to do it ? And number one reason …… whenever you fire someone kids – please, please, have someone better in line to TAKE the job. This Defensiveback coordinator is better than Chuckie ? This, to me, is a bad deal for Tampa fans unless you are bringing in Cowher or Shanahan or Vince Lumbardi.
Big Stienny, I’m just going to address you by saying that you sound like you really think firing Gruden was a shocking mistake. If that is correct, then I think you need to research the true situation down in Tampa before you go out and buy Chucky dolls with Jets uni’s on them.
If you honestly think that Gruden had no talent (especially on defense!) to work with, you have no clue about what you are saying. He had multiple stars on defense (Ruud, Phillips, Barber, Jackson, June)with several players with enough potential to join that list. The offensive players were all chosen by Gruden & Bruce Allen themselves.
btw, no big receiver????
Antonio Bryant ring a bell?
“I am shocked. Why didn’t Tampa do this three weeks ago if they were going to do it ? And number one reason …… whenever you fire someone kids – please, please, have someone better in line to TAKE the job. This Defensiveback coordinator is better than Chuckie ? This, to me, is a bad deal for Tampa fans unless you are bringing in Cowher or Shanahan or Vince Lumbardi.”
You’ve got to understand that everyone knows Gruden is a good coach (not great, his name is bigger than what he provides), but he is not the right coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is a very stubborn person and lightning needs to strike for him to get his way. In 2002 he was just what we needed, but in 2009 he represents everything we do not need.
Raheem Morris might not be a name everyone is familiar with yet, but if any of the hype surrounding his name is true, I think people will understand why this happened. Even if Morris fails, change is what TB needed more than anything.
Cowher and Shanahan are great and all, but they have the same track record as Gruden.
Jon is a good coach and should be a head coach for another team soon. Like to see him get another Super Bowl.
The more I read about Gruden, the less shocked I am.
He’s a very good coach, but the Bucs have been stagnating for a while. The Glazers spend the money and want a winning team. Of course, they might be sorry, but they probably felt they needed to shake things up.
I still think he would be a very good hire for another team that wants to play the West Coast offense. He would be an improvement for most teams.
I’m up in the air with Chuckie G. He reminds me of Barry Switzer, they both inherited a super bowl caliber team, won at the big dance, and then what have you done for me lately? Dungy would have won the following year had he not been fired.
I’ll take my chances with Rex Ryan in NY over the CChuckster.